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ntents of original texts by using the manner of thinking of translated works. While, from the point of view of philosophy, there is no doubt that there must be some relationships between literal translation and free translation. Both of them are interdependent, but each of them possesses a kind of limitation by themselves. 2.3 Influential Factors of Literal Translation and Free Translation When literal and free translations are mentioned, they must have been affected by a lot of elements. Therefore, the influential factors of literal translation and free translation will be discussed from the following two aspects. 2.3.1 Cultural Element Prof. Eugene A. Nida as one of the most outstanding translation theorists of world renown in the west today has said that in order to reach the real success of translation, to know two kinds of different cultures is more important than to master these two sorts of languages. Therefore, culture is one of the factors which influence the literal and free translation. Translators always use literal translation to deal with some works which their distinctive national features are not easy to be understood or can not be found in the translated languages, for example, technical terms, people’s names, geographical names and so on. This sort of method can not only make readers know more about the original language’s culture but also adds the new cultural concepts to the translated language culture so as to make the translated language cultures have possessions of vivaciousness and vigorousness. Sometimes, literal translation can be influenced by cultures. For examples: Sauna: 桑拿浴—一种芬兰式的蒸气浴; Internet: 因特网—国际互联电脑网络; AIDS: 艾滋病—一种获得性免疫缺损综合症; the sword of Damocles: 达摩克里斯之剑—喻临头的危险,源于希腊传说, 古Syracuse国王命其延丞达摩克里斯坐在以一根头发悬挂的剑下,以示君王多危; a Judas Kiss: 犹大之吻—喻口蜜腹剑,阴险的被判,源自<<圣经>>, 指耶稣十二使徒之一犹大以接吻为暗号出卖耶稣,导致耶稣被钉死在十字架上; the Gordian knot: 戈尔迪结—喻棘手问题,源自希腊传说, 戈尔迪结在木桩上系了一个众人皆无法解开的绳结,后由亚历山大王一刀斩开。西施: Xishi— a famous beauty in the late Spring and Autumn period in ancient China; 气功: qigong— a system of deep breathing exercises; 磕头: Kowtow, to touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as act of worship, respect, etc. esp. in former Chinese custom; 粽子: Zongzi, a kind of glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves; 清明节: Chingming, a traditional Chinese holiday to commemorate the dead observed in late spring; 功夫: Kung fu, a Chinese martial art based on the use of fluid movements of the arms and legs. From the previous examples, it comes to a conclusion that some proper nouns must be translated literally according to the cultures of original works. However, some vocabulary, idioms and sentences which have possessions of distinctive cultural features of original texts can not be translated by the way of literal translation exactly. Then, free translation has to be used in these circumstances so as to express the original meaning directly. Through filling in some vacancies among words, meanings and cultures, these translated works would become more fluent and easy to be understood by target readers. Free translation can also be effected by cultures. For examples: (1) Original Text: It was another one of those Catch-22 situations: you are damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t. Translated Text: 这真是又一个左右为难的尴尬局面, 做也倒霉, 不做也倒霉。 (2) Original Text: Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment t